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. 2022 Nov 22;14(23):4956.
doi: 10.3390/nu14234956.

Erythrocyte Membrane Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and Lipid Profile in Preterm Infants at Birth and Over the First Month of Life: A Comparative Study with Infants at Term

Félix Castillo Salinas  1 , Alicia Montaner Ramón  1 , Félix-Joel Castillo Ferrer  1 , Adrià Domingo-Carnice  2 , Begoña Cordobilla  3 , Joan Carles Domingo  3
Affiliations

Erythrocyte Membrane Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) and Lipid Profile in Preterm Infants at Birth and Over the First Month of Life: A Comparative Study with Infants at Term

Félix Castillo Salinas et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

An observational comparative study was designed to assess the fatty acids profile in erythrocyte membrane phospholipids of 30 preterm neonates (<32 weeks gestation) at birth and after 1 month of life versus a convenience sample of 10 infants born at term. The panel of fatty acids included the families and components of saturated fatty acids (SFAs), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), and n-6 and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) as well as enzyme activity indexes and fatty acids ratios. At birth, the comparison of fatty acid families between preterm and term neonates showed a significantly higher content of SFAs and n-6 PUFAs, and a significantly lower content of MUFAs and n-3 PUFAs in the preterm group. After 30 days of life, significantly higher levels of n-6 PUFAs and significantly lower levels of n-3 PUFAs among preterm neonates persisted. At 30 days of birth, n-6 PUFA/n-3 PUFA and arachidonic acid (ARA) ARA/DHA remained significantly elevated, and DHA sufficiency index significantly decreased in the preterm group. The pattern of n-3 PUFA deficiency at birth and sustained for the first month of life would support the need of milk banking fortified with DHA and the use of DHA supplementation in breastfeeding mothers.

Keywords: arachidonic acid; docosahexaenoic acid; eicosapentaenoic acid; erythrocyte membrane; linoleic acid; lipid profile; preterm infants.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Evolution of the main fatty acid families in preterm neonates during the first 30 days of life as compared with values at birth on neonates at term (red symbol) (asterisks indicate statistically significant differences, p < 0.05, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.001).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Evolution of fatty acids ratios in preterm neonates during the first 30 days of life as compared to mean values in term neonates at birth (red symbol). N-6/n-3 PUFAs ratio and ARA/DHA remained higher, whereas lower DHASI values persisted (ARA: arachidonic acid, DHA: docosahexaenoic acid; DHASI: DHA sufficiency index. (asterisks indicate statistically significant differences, p < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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